The Autopsy

When Dr Gunther von Hagens brought over his Body Worlds exhibition to the UK in March 2002, the Department of Health, after some considerable debate in correspondence, accepted that a licence was not required under the Anatomy Act in force at that time and the exhibition went ahead. When Dr Gunther von Hagens conducted his public autopsy on 20 November 2002, the first in the UK for 170 years, the relevant authorities maintained that it was unlawful. Dr Gunther von Hagens and his legal representatives, together with Channel 4, disputed this, arguing that what was intended did not fall under any of the relevant legislation at that time. The autopsy duly went ahead unchallenged and the programme recording the event, The Autopsy, produced by Nick Curwin, was broadcast that evening on Channel 4.

Television has been responsible for so many social changes, but to change the British autopsy rules is clearly a cut above the average!

Under s.16 Human Tissue Act 2004, which came into force on 1 September 2006, both the Body Worlds exhibition and the autopsy may now require a licence being granted by the Human Tissue Authority as being an ‘anatomical examination’, a ‘post-mortem examination’ or ‘the use for the purpose of public display of the body of a deceased person’.

In the early stages of consultation, the Human Tissue Authority’s Code of Practice relating to Public Display was very widely defined to include television programmes. However, after the consultation and lobbying by Channel 4 and Nick Curwin, the final version of the Code now expressly states under paragraph 12, ‘The HT Act does not provide for the licensing of the display of photographic or electronic images whether moving (e.g. in a broadcast or transmission) or static (e.g. in a text book).’ Television has been responsible for many social changes, but to change the British autopsy rules is clearly a cut above the average.